I like Big Books and I cannot lie...

I used to be that kid who read a lot. A whole lot. Forget the usual dance/music/drama classes - all I needed was a book or twenty to spend my whole summer holidays with. I started early, about 7 or 8 maybe,  on the leftovers and left-behind's of my older cousins' books; books that I was clearly not ready for, so much so that I had to underline words that I didn't understand, wait for my mom to come home in the evening, ask her the meaning of the words and then re-read all the pages from that day all over again! (Until I got old enough to use a dictionary. Man, I loved my big fat Oxford English dictionary)

A book could just hook me in the first 5 pages - I must've been the most gullible (or ideal?) kid to sell a story to! I'd happily read anything I could get my hands on. My favourite reading spot was the corner of the dining table. I always so stuck in the current book I was reading that I used to sit on the table, back to the wall, cross legged, head bent, ignoring all the warnings of "your eyes will deteriorate/you'll have glasses soon if you read like that!", and sit there reading for hours and hours. (still have perfect eyesight, btw.)

Fast Forward about 10 years. Done with college, been working for 6 years (!) now - and I almost can't believe that kid was me. I probably have read about 10 books in those 6 years - completely lost touch with that whole beautiful world. So many distractions, that so many years went by without being counted for!
Damn you Gossip Girl and ANTM and Grey's Anatomy, Damn you IPL and Damn you Facebook!!! Suddenly I'm left behind, I haven't read any of the books the world is talking about - maybe its in my head but I've become so "dumbed" out. Time to get back on track - nothing, nothing in the world can replace the experience of reading a book - laughing out loud (the non virtual kind!), unable to put it down coz you have to know what happens next, and then realising its 5am and you read all night just to find out :)

Thankfully its so easy to just get right back, find an interesting book and settle down with it. That dining table is long gone, but I'm glad that kid is still around!

Tribute to #203.

How easily a house becomes a home, no? We recently moved out of our apartment that we had lived in for the last year and a bit. Surprised I'm being so senti about it, but man, I loved that place :) It was the ideal combination of chilled-out yet party, door always open to family and yet our own little pocket of privacy, big and bright and airy and homey and comfortable, and basically it was perfect!

So many fun times were had in that house - can't wait to make a new house all homey again. And I have a feeling the next one's going to be WAY more exciting! :)

Touchy-Feely

Okay, this is really random.

So, I'm a very touchy-feely person when it comes to most things :P especially when it comes to shopping! As great and convenient and easy as online shopping is (Yay for asos.com), there's nothing like good old brick-and-mortar physical stores, whether its a clothing store or just the local supermarket.

With clothing stores - there's nothing like going to the store, trying on a top, being able to feel the fabric, and know how its gonna look/feel before you buy it! maybe there's something else that doesn't look all that fabulous, but hey its worth a try and then it turns out to be the comfiest of them all! (and you wear that top for the next year )
Even grocery stores - I mean, what's the fun in shopping online? for groceries?! I love going to the local grocery store/ gigantic supermarket with my list of absolutely essential items and then walking around picking up interesting stuff, trying out a new cheese, buying new spices and flavoring that I don't know how to use and then having some fun with it! Don't get me wrong; its great that Tesco will deliver your groceries within 4 hours of clicking on them, but come on man, how robotic!
[p.s: never getting one of these fridges that auto detect when you run out of milk and order it for you! ]

And don't even get me started about the therapeutic nature of just walking around and window shopping!

Boom!

9 days too late, but atleast I'm doing it!

2011, the year that was all about new beginnings...New home, new husband =), new job, new life, new families, loads of new friends, new car, new cities, new travel, new opportunities, new experiences, new learnings, new perspective, new everything! So. much. fun! It was the year of work work work, with loads of weddings, crazy new friendships, travel, food, and parties thrown in. It was the year that was so much fun that it just flew on by when we weren't watching. It was the year that was everything the previous one wasn't, and how!

Now that it's over and done with (still too fast, I say) its time for a whole new one to begin, time to stop, look back, say thank you, take a deep breath, and get ready to rock and roll!
Time for a whole new set of experiences, a fresh start, new perspective, a clean slate.

2012 - oooooh so much to say, so much potential, so much just waiting to happen, life is literally waiting to explode! and I cannot wait! :D
In the middle of all the madness, I want to take as much time out as I need to live it up, to read lots, to play more, to be my fittest yet, to travel, to meet people, to make new friends, and dream new dreams. 

Here's to a year filled with more new things, more fun, more love, life & laughter than ever! But I don't want to jinx anything, and I don't want to come in the way either - let the good times take over :)

Will you make frandships with me?

"A good friend is worth pursuing".
But why would they be running away in the first place?

There are friends & then are friends. There are the party friends, the serious friends, the crazy gang of doing-everything-together friends, the drinking buddies, the non-drinking buddies, The BFF's, the come-in-phases friends, the BFF's who dont quite stay BFFs, the friendship gone bad frineds. And then there are the forever firends. I've had a few of all types I think, most recent being the instant-hit-it-off, why-didnt-we-be-so-close-before, omg-how-similar-are-we, come-to-my-family functions BFF f.o.r.e.v.e.r friend. And then it lasts about as long as that sentence. Something somewhere shows up that shows you why you actually weren't that close ever, or how different you actually are!
Ah, life.

But this post is not about that, its not about the almost-were BFFs. Its about the real forever, no-matter-what type folks. :) Folks who don't need to keep in touch everyday/all the time, but never stay MIA for too long. Folks whom I adore, and who adore me back :) Folks who I wish lived with me everyday/all the time, folks whom I can call fat and who'll call me fatty to my face!

This is about my favouritesssst people in the world, just coz I miss them tons! Ignore the grammar, the excessive usage of !! and soak in the ♥!

my mental: I mean it -- she is my most mental, crackest, bestest & friend. we go back forever! we've had dreams of travelling the world, sharing all our shoes, having one giant common wardrobe :P doing exotic holidays together, with unlimited baggage & no shopping restrictions of course. We're in 2 different parts of the world, but we still talk about 'OMG imagine if we're both in that city at the same time next year!!' :D We ping each other exotic bags that we will never afford - you know, just in case it goes on sale! we skype & show off the newest pair of shoes that can be potentially shared, and continue planning our fantastic shopping/meeting holidays..
I dont even know how long its been since she jetted off, but hey - that aint ever stopped anybody! ♥

my little sister/partner in crime -- of all the people I've met 'by chance', I've never been more thankful for this one! We're as different as we're alike, we buy the same clothes, dream the same dreams, love to play house :) and love dressing up! anything shiny = w.i.n! We'll obsess about random things, stay up talking for hours, try & figure out people's secrets :P laugh like mad people, shop like we own the world! She's like a little sister I never had, and I know we can not see each other for months and just one sentence can get us giggling in no time! ♥

my big sister-twin -- we walk the same, talk the same, look the same (apparently!) she is the big sister i never had - friend, philosopher & guide types. we LOVE our shoes, if only we could share! we buy similar clothes, the same shoes - one big pair, one tiny pair :)  we window shop online like we can afford everything there, clearance section, of course! we make travel plans - which will work out at some point, I promise!! we can sit & jabber & jabber all day! and tell each other to shut up, its my turn to talk! succchhh a random co-incidence that we met -- it was absolutely meant to be!! ♥

my roomie, my cracko -- apparently we met once, long ago, and stupidly didn't decide to remember each other or be friends. but you know, it was meant to be, and how!! we're as opposite as we are alike -- we can make each other crack up, and yet talk about the serious stuff on Day 1. She hates shopping, I'm clearly a shopaholic, she hates pink, and me, well, I can do pink -- those have made for some interesting days at home!! She'll eat anything (even if I cook it!) and say Yum :) And no matter where we are, I know we'll never miss a chance to meet and get a cup of chai, and lots of food of course! ♥